Jugband Blues

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“Jugband Blues”
Song by Pink Floyd
Album	A Saucerful of Secrets
Released	June 29, 1968 (UK) July 27, 1968 (US)
Recorded	October 1967 De Lane Lea Studios, London
Genre	Psychedelic rock
Length	3:01
Writer	Syd Barrett
A Saucerful of Secrets track listing
See-Saw (6) “Jugband Blues” (7)

"Jugband Blues" is a song by British psychedelic rock band Pink Floyd, and is featured on their second album, A Saucerful of Secrets (1968). It was written by Syd Barrett, being his sole writing contribution to the album, and also his last published for the band.

The promotional video for this song features Barrett (shown with an acoustic guitar for the first time) and the group miming to the song in a more conventional stage setting, with psychedelic projections in the background. The original audio to the promo is lost, and most versions use the BBC recording from late 1967, consequently causing sync issues most evident as Syd sings the opening verse. Roger Waters and Rick Wright switch to tuba and trombone respectively in the brass-driven instrumental break.

Barrett wanted a Salvation Army band to play on the track. They were brought in, but when he stated that he wanted them to simply "play whatever they want" regardless of the rest of the group, Norman Smith insisted on recorded parts. Eventually both versions were recorded and used.

The song is viewed by many fans as a sad farewell piece by Barrett who, by the beginning of the recording sessions for Saucerful of Secrets, was already shrinking into a delirious state of mind, exacerbated by his feelings of alienation from the rest of the band, as can be gleaned from the painfully specific lyrics in the song ("I don't care if the sun don't shine/ And I don't care if nothing is mine").

"Jugband Blues" is the second song from Saucerful to appear on the compilation album Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd (the first being "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun"). It is ordered near the end of the second disc, immediately following "Wish You Were Here", a song written by the rest of the band in 1975 in tribute to Barrett.

[edit] Personnel

• Syd Barrett - Guitar and Vocals
• Richard Wright - Keyboards
• Roger Waters - Bass
• Nick Mason - Drums and Percussion

with

• 8 members of the Salvation Army (The International Staff Band^[1]) - Ray Bowes (cornet), Terry Camsey (cornet), Mac Carter (trombone), Les Condon (Eb bass), Maurice Cooper (Euphonium), Ian Hankey (trombone), George Whittingham (Bb bass), and one other.

[edit] References